Inventors have long been known as creative individuals who seem to have a knack for seeing an answer to a need that none of us ever knew we had until the product is in our neighborhood store.

Kids often amaze us with the way they see the world, but kid inventors, well, they can amaze us with the fact that people so young figure out how to fix a problem in a fun and interesting way.

So it is with a group of youngsters, including several from right here in Orange County, who put their thinking caps on and created some inventions that could fill a need other kids might have.

All got assistance from By Kids for Kids, which helps kid inventors bring their ideas to life.

Locker Lites

Blair Breazeale was just 11 when she got the idea for Locker Lites, lighted magnets and mirrors for school lockers that can be found in two major chain stores.

Blair, originally from San Francisco but now living in Arkansas, was disappointed by the dark, depressing and cold look of her sixth-grade locker. She went shopping to see if there was anything “cool” available to decorate and brighten it up. She found nothing and sketched out her own ideas to light up her school life.

Thanks to her collaboration with By Kids for Kids and her mom’s 20 years of experience in working with Wal-Mart, Blair won a large back-to-school order in January of this year. She is 13 now.

Her products are on Wal-Mart store shelves across the country. They’re also available at Michael’s stores.

The Locker Lites run on LED batteries (included in the kit), have light sensors so they turn off if the door is closed, and sell for $3.97 to $5.97.

Next up on Blair’s invention list: locker chandeliers.

Boogie 2 Boogie

A team of Orange County kids – sisters Amy and Alyssa Hansen of Irvine and their friends Kaycee and Nick Johnsen of Huntington Beach – heard about the Sally Ride National Toy Challenge and wanted to enter.

The group started as eighth graders when the Hansen sisters lived in Huntington Beach. Amy is now 18; Nick is 18; and Alyssa and Kaycee are 16.

All but Nick are now in high school; he’s an incoming freshman at UC San Diego, where he plans to major in bio-engineering.

They are considering writing a how-to book of their experiences to help other young inventors.

All four love the beach and surfing, but found that the body boards they were using didn’t have a very good “fit.” So they decided their Toy Challenge entry would be a body board with a more functional shape that would also be more fun for kids to use.

Their invention, the Boogie 2 Boogie board, has a signature boomerang shape to make it hydrodynamic and more comfortable to ride. The kids also enjoyed catching the waves together so they added a connector to each board that would let them ride in tandem.

Another important addition was for parents on shore who wanted a way of getting their children’s attention: The team came up with a remote signaling device.

They won 1st place in the Sally Ride National Science TOY Challenge. Their prize: Members of the team were made into action figures.

They also were awarded a By Kids for Kids commercialization contract in November 2004.

UX-Underwater X-treme

The same Orange County team added Kara Pederson of Huntington Beach, Matt Johnston , Brittany Carter and Joshua Nordstrom, all from Irvine, to their creative group in 2005. They re-named themselves the California Aquatics and entered the 2005 Sally Ride Science TOY Challenge with this creative invention.

They tied for 1st place.

The UX is a cylinder with bright lights and sounds (as well as a really cool set of cyan goggles) that can be used either underwater or on land. The lights and sounds can be used together or separately. The kit is designed to clip onto a swim suit or be tossed into the pool. Three sizes come in one package and contain a book of games that vary in difficulty.

The goggles are meant to block out the wearer’s red vision without distorting their eyesight.

The team figured this feature would make cheating in games such as Marco Polo or Red Light, Green Light a virtual thing of the past!

Their prize for winning was a spectacular trip to the famed Space Camp in Alabama.

Kara, Brittany and Joshua are now 16; Matt is 18.

While the young inventors from Orange County are still working hard at seeing their toys in stores (due to patent laws and other legalities), they are thrilled with the notoriety they’ve received and the knowledge that they have inspired other tweens and teens to dream and get out there and enter all kinds of creative competitions.

They all credit their moms with being their greatest supporters and champions.

And all had similar words of advice for possible future inventors: Keep dreaming, work hard and keep going. Make sure your invention works before handing it in. And have fun!

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.